Oct. 19, 2010
Matches 19-21
Bowling Green (6-16) at Cleveland State (16-2, 7-2 HL)
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: CSU leads, 19-15
Last Mtg.: CSU 3, @BGSU 0 (10/13/09)
Cleveland State at Green Bay (7-16, 3-6 HL)
Date: Friday, Oct. 22, 2010
Time: 8:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Kress Events Center (4,000) - Green Bay, Wis.
Series: CSU leads, 27-15
Last Mtg.: @CSU 3, UWGB 1 (9/25/10)
Cleveland State at Milwaukee (12-8, 8-1 HL)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010
Time: 5:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Klotsche Center (2,500) - Milwaukee, Wis.
Series: UWM leads, 33-8
Last Mtg.: UWM 3, @CSU 2 (9/24/10)
Complete Release in PDF Format 
QUICK SETS: After playing just one match last week, Cleveland State has a busy week on tap with three matches, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. nonconference game against Bowling Green on Tuesday (Oct. 19) night in Woodling Gym. The Vikings then make their annual trip to Wisconsin for two matches this weekend. CSU will play at Green Bay on Friday (Oct. 22) at 8:00 p.m. EDT and at Milwaukee on Saturday (Oct. 23) at 5:00 p.m. EDT. The Vikings enter the week at 16-2 overall and in third place in the Horizon League with a 7-2 record. CSU is one-and-a-half matches behind first place Butler (9-1), having handed the Bulldogs their lone league loss this year, and are one match behind second place Milwaukee (8-1).
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings played just one match last week. Here is a brief synopsis of that contest.
Match 18: CSU 3, UIC 1 (Oct. 15, Cleveland, Ohio)
Kara Koch had 16 kills and Jackie Dabbelt added 12 as the Vikings rallied from losing the first set to hand UIC a 3-1 setback. Koch added 15 digs for her fifth straight double-double, while Amy Grabiec made a match-high 20 digs. Jordan Goad finished with 51 assists and eight digs, while Lindsey Griffith added 11 kills.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Now in his 11th season at the helm of the Cleveland State volleyball program, head coach Chuck Voss has re-tooled the squad and has the Vikings right back in the thick of the Horizon League race. Headlining the list of returnees from last year's regular season champions is junior setter Jordan Goad (10.91 aps, 1.78 dps), who was a first team All-Horizon League and honorable mention All-America pick last year after finishing 36th in the country in assists. Freshman Annie Djukic (4.17 aps) is Goad's backup after redshirting last season and has made three starts this season to spare Goad at times. Senior Amy Benz (.327, 2.52 kps, 1.05 bps) headlines a deep and talented group of middles that also includes junior Megan Barhorst (0.90 kps, 1.00 bps), sophomore Marie Frease (.300, 1.73 kps) and freshman Erin Turner. Sophomore Kara Koch (3.92 kps, 2.47 dps) and junior Lindsey Griffith (2.26 kps) are the most experienced outside hitters on the roster, while sophomore Kourtney Volkmer (0.17 kps) and freshman Kerry Winchester (0.71 kps) have also received opportunities. Freshman Jackie Dabbelt (.277, 2.79 kps), has . The Vikings are once again be strong in the backrow with junior Amy Grabiec (5.21 dps) continuing CSU's strong tradition of liberos. Senior Meghan Mental (1.57 dps), junior Whitney Dalessandro and sophomores Amanda Medvetz (2.32 dps) and Brittany Holland (2.34), a transfer from Youngstown State, all receive time as defensive specialists in the backrow.
RPI WATCH: The NCAA released its third edition of the volleyball RPI on Monday (Oct. 18) with the Vikings moving up four spots from last week to No. 64. It is the highest ranking among the nine league schools with Milwaukee (No. 80) the second highest and the only other Horizon League school among the top-100.
CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The Vikings are well represented in the latest NCAA statistics that were released on Monday (Oct. 18) afternoon. As a team, CSU is 13th in the nation in winning percentage (.944), 34th in assists (12.97), 37th in kills (13.86), 46th in digs (16.47) and 57th in hitting percentage (.237). Individually, Amy Grabiec is 28th in digs (5.21), while Jordan Goad is 28th in assists (10.91) and Kara Koch is 51st in kills (3.92) and 66th in points (4.36).
KOCH DOUBLES UP: Sophomore Kara Koch has notched eight of the team's 10 double-doubles this season, including five straight in which she has averaged 15.0 kills and 12.8 digs per match. Koch began the streak with 14 kills and 12 digs against Butler (Oct. 5) and followed that with 12 kills and 10 digs versus Wright State (Oct. 6), 19 kills and 15 digs at Valparaiso (Oct. 10), 14 kills and 12 digs at Loyola (Oct. 11) and 16 kills with 15 digs versus UIC (Oct. 15)
BENZ NOTCHES 1,000TH KILL: Senior Amy Benz became the 14th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills with a kill in the second set against Butler on Oct. 5. Benz needs 26 more kills to break into the all-time top-10 in career kills at CSU.
... AND CONTINUES CLIMB UP THE CHARTS: Amy Benz has her name plastered throughout the CSU career record book, ranking third all-time in hitting percentage (.318), total blocks (495) and block assists (429); and seventh in solo blocks (66). She is five blocks shy of joining Jamie Bouyer and Danielle Siefker as the only players in program history with 1,000 kills and 500 blocks for their careers.
PLAYING WITH BLOCKS: The Vikings have two players among the league leaders in blocks with Amy Benz sixth (1.05) and Megan Barhorst seventh (1.00). Benz has been at her best blocking over the last five matches, totaling 33 blocks (1.83 bps) during the span.
SHE CAN DIG IT: Junior Amy Grabiec is continuing the strong tradition of the libero position at CSU, averaging 5.21 digs per set to rank second in the league and 28th nationally. Grabiec, who has reached double-digit digs in 26 of the last 27 matches dating to last season, has 344 digs this season and needs 53 more to move into 10th place on the CSU single season chart for digs.
AIR JORDAN: Jordan Goad, an honorable mention All-American last year, has picked up right where she left off a season ago, leading the Horizon League and ranking 28th in the nation in assists (10.91). In addition, she has helped the Vikings to the top attack percentage in the league (.237). Goad is ranked fifth on the all-time assist chart at CSU with 3,118, needing 202 more to take over fourth place.
CAN'T ACE US: CSU's backrow serve-receive has been soild all season with the Vikings boasting a .947 receive percentage and giving up just 65 aces in 66 sets. CSU has surrendered three or fewer aces in 10 of the 17 matches this year.
ON THE ATTACK: When it comes to accurate hitters in the league, it doesn't get much better than CSU as a Viking has led the league in attack percentage in each of the last seven seasons. It began with Jamie Bouyer leading the league in 2003 (.361) and 2004 (.368) and continued with Nickole Kennedy in 2005 (.318), Beth Greulich in 2006 (.364), Amy Benz in 2007 (.334) and 2008 (.303) and Greulich (.328) last season. Benz leads the league this year at .327.
... AND ON THE DEFENSE: In addition to being the top hitting team in the league, the Vikings are also leading the league in opponent hitting percentage (.138). Last year, CSU became the first team since 2003 (Milwaukee) to lead the league in both attack percentage (.247) and opponent hitting percentage (.160).
RECORD START: The Vikings won their first 10 matches of the season as part of the best start to a season in school history. The streak was snapped on Sept. 24 with a 3-2 setback to Milwaukee. The 1977 team held the old mark of seven consecutive wins to open a season. In addition, the 10 consecutive wins are tied for the fourth longest win streak in school history. The 1974 squad holds the record with 16 wins in a row.
UP NEXT: The Vikings are in action two times next week, hosting Robert Morris at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 26) in the final nonconference match of the season before heading to Youngstown State for a 7:00 p.m. league contest on Friday (Oct. 29).
